UPDATE 6/20/14: Do not use OVGCs or VGCs at Walmart. Use other gift cards from other banks.
No Vanilla Reload Cards? No Problem! One Vanilla Gift Cards to the Rescue
I don’t know about you, but my local CVS store(s) are getting a bit low on Valentine’s Day chocolate Vanilla Reload Cards. Instead of walking out empty handed, take a look at the One Vanilla Gift Cards.
They have a slightly higher activation fee ($4.95 instead of $3.95), but they are a great Vanilla Reload Card alternative/replacement.
The great thing about this gift card is you can load it onto your Bluebird Card at Walmart (link) and you DO NOT need to register a PIN before using it. Yes, you read that correctly, all you do is swipe the gift card and enter any 4 digits you like (I like 1234 or 1127 (for my birthday)), but you may like another set of 4 digit numbers. It really is as simple as it sounds. Plus, I’ve seen literally 100 One Vanilla gift cards at every CVS store I have ever been to. You should be able to buy these cards at CVS or any grocery store, gas station, or other store.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
OK I’m Not familiar with the meta-bank visa GC at staples. What denominations can you get it in? When I looked online they only show a $100 card. Are they easy to load onto the BB at WM. My plan is to go to Smith’s (Kroger) grocery store and buy 1k of staples Gift cards with my CC. (Smith’s Value members get 1 point per dollar spent there, and 2 points per dollar on GC but right now gift cards are 4x points) 1000 points gets you 1 dollar off a gallon of gas up to 35 gallons. so that will save me $140 minus whatever fees on the metabank card. Then I will then go buy the GCs at Staples.
Staples sells Visa, MasterCard, And American Express gift cards in $50, $100, and $200 denominations. You might run into problems using Staples gift cards to buy other gift cards at Staples. Can you buy Visa or MasterCard gift cards at Smiths/Kroger?
You can Metabank or US Bank cards at some Kroger and Safeway chains. Follow instruction to get PINs.Kroger stopped giving fuel points but Safeway may be OK.
Steven-One Vanilla is not a <> card. It says plainly at the bottom right that it is a <> card. Use any PIN to buy money orders for deposit. For amusement, I use last 4 digits on each card.
If you buy visa gc at Kroger, you do not earn gas points, at least not where I live.
I think that is true for my grocery stores in SoCal too.
Grant, I purchased the Vanilla VISA Gift Card at CVS with a CC a few day ago. Last night 4/21, I went to WM to load it into BB. Went to customer service. She tried to load it and the end of transaction, it print out a receipt said, “DEBIT NOT APPROVED CALL AUTHORIZER”. Went to Kiosk machine, went through the process of loading and at the end, it print out a receipt with same message, “DEBIT NOT APPROVED CALL AUTHORIZER”. Had anyone has this problem? Did WM stop allowing this process? I can try another WM but I am afraid it will have the same issue. I have not tried the One Vanilla Prepaid VISA Gift card yet. Thank you for your help.
Have you added a PIN to the card. What is the current balance of the gift card (check online). Did you reach your $5,000 monthly reload limit? It’s based on calendar month.
Grant, you are right! Duh! I forgot that I had loaded $5,000 with Vanilla Reload at begin of the month and I have reached my $5,000 monthly reload limit. This is a first time I am doing the Visa Gift card. I will try it on 5/1. Hope this works. Again, thank you!
It’s ok Steven, it happens to all of us. I actually keep a spreadsheet so I can track all my reloadable cards. It takes a bit of time, but is well worth it.
I got the same error today. I thought “there’s no way I burned thru 5k.” Well, turns out I did, cuz of the VR crisis! Funny how much you forget in 2 weeks. I’ll be back to Walmart next month!
Eddy, checkout the post I just wrote about how to keep track of your Bluebird/Serve loading. That should help you out.
Grant — do the visa cards you buy at Staples require you to set up a PIN before transferring to BB at Walmart or can you use any number like the OV debit cards?
You have to set a PIN online or by phone before using it at Walmart.
Hey Grant – those One Vanilla cards at the top of this post are beginning to disappear pretty quickly from my local CVS stores now that VR is dead. But the ‘pretty’ $500 Visa GC with the gold & silver bows are still abundantly available. They are the same price but do they still work the same way at WM to load BB and buy MO? Meaning do I just input any 4 digits the first time around as a PIN?
I have been having sporadic success at Walgreens buying the OV cards but most any Rite-Aid has been a no go :(
I’m not sure about the regular Visa Gift Cards, I think you might have to set a PIN before using them, you can’t set the PIN during the transaction at Walmart. That is just a guess, I haven’t tried those cards yet (still fully stocked in SoCal).
Hendrix-You don’t load One Vanilla at WM. You load them when you buy them in CVS. You “unload” them In WM to buy money orders to deposit.
Hi Grant,
Thanks for all your help again, much appreciated. I had a few questions about this method because VRC spoiled me with the internet loading at my convenience.
For one vanilla, do you usually only pick them up at CVS? Or are there other places that sell them as well? And how much would you recommend buying per time? I used to buy 3k/trip at CVS with VRC.
And also, once you buy them and go to walmart to load, will they let me load up the daily limit of 1k each trip?
TIA
CVS is the only store that is nationwide that sells the One Vanilla Gift Cards. Other stores may, based on your region of the country. If you can buy them elsewhere, go right ahead. If you typically buy $3,000 per visit, you can probably continue buying the same amount. I always load up to $1,000 per visit to Walmart.
I’ve read that “debit card”/ (one vanilla GC) transactions are limted to $100 a day. Can you explain how you’re able to load $1000 per trip?
The daily limits are $1,000 for in-store reloads and $100 for online loads.
Grant-Here in Dallas, Texas, not all CVS stock the One Vanilla DEBIT cards.
My wife got hassled by another Walmart money center teller today, who reluctantly accepted her transaction. I honestly think it’s a matter a time before Walmart quits allowing us to use OV to BB transactions in their stores. They said they are paying close attention to these transactions to make sure nothing illegal is going on. I’m not a big fan of having my motives questioned!
That’s lame of Walmart. Try going to a cashier next time. Most don’t care which card you use.
As long as the kiosk works, the service center and clerks should accept them.
Again and again and again. No problem in WM money centers using One Vanilla to buy money orders to deposit. Checkout cashiers don’t know about BB and other stuff.
With the increasing suspicion of the Wal-Mart money center tellers, I tried using the Wal-Mart money pass kiosk yesterday and today with absolutely no problem at all! This is DEFINITELY the way to go, especially if you are going to be loading money onto another person’s (or two) Blue Bird account. Here is a link to locate the nearest Wal-Mart kiosk near you. Just type in your zip code and “Wal-Mart” in the search field. This method of MSing lives on (at least for now)!
http://www.moneypass.com/atm-locator.aspx
I have no problem using my mom or dad’s Bluebird Card, they never ask who’s card this is. Glad you had success at the ATM.
Each OV card can be loaded up to $500. To meet a $3,000 minimum spending, I have bought six of them to buy three $1,000 money orders at Walmart for deposit. I charge the $500 + the card fee.
Hi Grant, thank you so much for a great article. I have one question, could you help me with it? How do you setup the OneVanilla pin at WM when loading it to BB? do you set it when they prompt for the payment? or do you have to set it first before you get to WM? Thanks again for your help!
You don’t have to do anything before using it. Just swipe the One Vanilla Gift Card on the credit card reader and a box will pop up promoting you to enter a PIN. Any 4 digit PIN will work. It’s really that simple.
One Vanilla is already a debit card. I just use the last 4 of the card number when buying money orders at WM.
I just use 1234 as someone recommended and it worked fine
Yes, I’ve used that PIN a few times in the past too.
A few questions:
1.) Can you use your debit/credit card to purchase Vanilla Gift Cards using the “credit” option at Walmart, CVS or Walgreens?
2) How many $500 Vanilla Visa Gift Cards will these stores let you purchase? (ex: 1 $500 per transaction, 2 $500 per trnsaction? ect)
3) Can I use these GC’s after I set a pin to buy money orders from Walmart to pay bills?
Thanks so much!
Yes, you can use credit cards to buy these. You can buy up to $5,000 in one transaction, but I like to buy 2 or 3 in separate transactions. Yes, you can use these to buy money orders at Walmart.
Al Carpio-Your questions have been answered and covered multiple times in this thread. Read all the comments. Again, only purchase One Vanilla DEBIT cards-not GIFT cards.
Can i buy a visa gift card add it to my vanilla card and use one vanilla visa card to load money on myvanilla debit card ??? Like call 1800 number and load one vanilla visa like i do vanilla reload ? I need info on other reload packs for my vanilla reload they are hard to find……….this bluebird card yall talk about can u load visa gift cards by phone ? Buy reload packs and load them on net or by phone ?
No, you can only load the Bluebird Card in person at Walmart or online with a debit card (not a gift card with PIN).
Jerry and Al Carpio,
I just looked at the card: It is a black one “One Vanilla Prepaid Visa Card”. When you look closely at the card (gray color), you would see the word “Debit”.
Grant-I have been writing all along to buy One Vanilla debit cards. In fact, I charged two $504.95 OV at CVS just yesterday to meet $1,000 minimum spending for a bunch of ihg.com hotel nights. Each spouse should get that Chase card.
Can you elaborate on the $1000 for IHG.com hotel nights? I’m a little confused. I agree that the Chase IHG Rewards Club CC is a great card to get, I’ve had it since November 2013.
Grant-I don’t know how to elaborate more on this. My usual routine. On May1, I bought two $500 One Vanilla DEBIT cards at CVS. (total charged $1,009.90) Bought one $1,000 MO in Walmart and paid 68c fee in cash. Deposited MO in my bank branch. (You could do the same in your credit union.) <> Note: As soon as I read the notice that Barclay would be sending new Master Cards to replace the IHG VISA cards, I, at once, cancelled both of our VISA cards and got the new MCs. So, another 81,000 IHG bonus points each for us. Maybe not too late for your readers to do the same? I don’t know.
How many nights will that sign up offer get you?
Depends where you stay. Most nights are around 20-30k points. So probably looking at 2 nights.
Grant- IHG card does have $1,000 min spend. You have to cancel your VISA card ASAP and then, as I did, get the new Master Card version. Then each of you will get 81,000 bonus points. Do NOT use a link that only gives 60,000 points.
I think it is too late for me, I already received my IHG Rewards Club MasterCard.
Grant-Ref: No VRC; try One Vanilla. Too much repetition on comments.
Please put a BIG and BOLD notice at the beginning: “For all new readers. If you will read ALL comments, 99% of all questions have already been answered.”
I wish they would read all the comments, but there are currently 294 comments on this page.
Grant-Wishing won’t make it so. You can post a BOLD notice in your introduction about what I wrote. There is such a waste of your time answering the same questions over and over and over.
You got it Jerry, I added that to the introduction.
I think Jerry should do a guest post; with arrows & circles!
I went to WM kiosk to load VGC. First, it asked me for a 4 digt pin, then it asked for a 9 digit pin!!
I cancelled the loading I didn’t know what to do?
Any ideas?
9 digit pin sounds like SSN :/
Should you enter SSN for loading OV to BB?
No, just enter a 4 digit number for Bluebird/Serve loads at Walmart.
Off to a Family Dollar to see if they have any in stock. I read through all the comments, and I’m still not 100% sure, is it only the MyVanilla cards that I should be looking for, or any prepaid debit card that I can set a pin for? I know to steer clear if it’s a gift card. I’m 95% sure I’ll screw this up my first time, oh well.
Any Visa or MasterCard will do. If you can find Visa gift cards, they are a little easier to use. Look on the back for Metabank or Gift Card Mall. Don’t buy American Express gift cards, they do not have PINs.
Just struck out. 0 for 4 so far. There were plenty in stock at Family Dollar and Rite Aid (I’m in Pennsylvania) but neither would let me buy them with a credit card. I haven’t tried CVS yet, probably will tomorrow, so fingers crossed.
CVS might be your only choice. Good luck tomorrow.
I thought I’d give you an update on yesterday’s experience. First stop, Rite Aid. Could not purchase either a OneVanilla card or a visa gift card with my Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) (visa). However, I was able to purchase the OneVanilla card with my Barclays Arrival Mastercard for $504.95. Second stop, CVS. Again, I was not able to purchase either a OneVanilla card or a Visa gift card with my CSP. I didn’t try my Barclays since I already have that sign up bonus (although I still make $6.16 per card with Barclays). Third stop, different CVS, same story. Although this clerk told me repeatedly that it was because there wasn’t enough money on the card, even though I had >14k credit available. The manager came over and said as of April 4th you can’t buy any of the prepaid cards with credit cards. Fourth stop, Walmart. Successfully loaded the $500 onto my Serve account. And just for the heck of it, tried to buy a Visa gift card with my CSP but they wouldn’t take credit.
So, any thoughts on why the Barclays worked and the CSP didn’t? Could it be a Chase vs. Barclays thing or a VISA vs. Mastercard thing? Or just a depends on the store thing? It doesn’t seem like CVS will be an option for me. But maybe Rite Aid will be.
I would give Chase a call and see if they are blocking large purchases on your card. I have used my Chase Freedom credit card sometimes at CVS to buy OVGCs. I won’t be able to buy any gift cards today, but will try tomorrow. I think it might be too soon to say that CVS is blocking all credit card purchases for gift cards.
I couldn’t hit reply on your response, so hopefully this will do. Called Chase, and they said it was on their end, but that I should be fine from now on. So we’ll see what happens later today if I’m at a CVS or Rite Aid. I also asked for extra points to be credited to my account for the inconvenience, so we’ll see what happens for that. They even blocked my attempt to buy gas with my CSP, but I guess at that point they weren’t letting me buy anything.
I’m glad you were able to fix the problem with Chase. After a few months, they learn your shopping habits and you won’t have any problems. Good luck at CVS or Rite Aid today.
Bought a OneVanilla Card at CVS no problem, although the cashier thought they only took cash for them at first. What’s interesting is in the Cardholder Agreement it says you will not receive a PIN with your Card Account. With the card I purchased over the weekend it mentioned that whatever 4 digit number I use first will be the PIN. So hopefully it’ll still work. Not sure when I’ll make it to walmart next but I’ll let you know what happens.
It should work with any 4 digit PIN.
I swear I’ll stop bombarding you with comments soon. I just found the Cardholder Agreement online, and saw the date on the one that came with the card I purchased, and it looks like the agreement that came with the card is out of date. So I probably won’t have a problem loading it at Walmart.
Grant,
I posted this same ? elsewhere on your site but I’m anxious. I’d read bits and pieces advising people to stay away from the My Cash Paypal cards but I’ve already bought four @ $500/each. Anyways, I was wondering if you’ve dealt with them or have heard anything about how to avoid being locked out. Of course, now that I have already purchased them I have read more and more horror stories. I don’t know if that’s when someone has done it over a longer time. This is the first time I’ve used this method to accrue points. Anyways, I’ve successfully transferred $500 of the $2,000. I’m going to stay away from now on but I just want to know if it’d be best to try to cancel the cards for a refund or request a check in the lump sum after I give it a few weeks to load the $500 increments in a wider time frame. Anyways, thanks and I’ll have learned my lesson for next time.
Thanks again,
James
I use my PayPal account often for eBay purchases and selling items on eBay so I always have a lot of action in my account. I load the occasional PayPal My Cash card to my PayPal account withdraw done to my bank account after a few days and load some to my Serve card with the PayPal Debit Card. As long as you don’t load and unload the card right away, you should be fine, I think.
Today I did my first ever load of OV to BB. It was easy. In the past I have done CheckFree Billpay and money order. BB is the easiest. The CSRs seem less confused by a request to load BB than they do Billpay, but in either case the computer walks them through the steps. Money orders are a good fallback, but I’ve read that a lot of banks scrutinize deposits of MOs, and the one time I deposited $1K of MO into my account at Chase, they asked to see ID. That struck me as odd. All of this is personal preference and what you’re comfortable with, and for me, I’ll do BB first, billpay 2nd, MO third.
It’s also getting a little harder to buy OVs with cc. I can still do it at my local Rite Aids and CVSs, but about half the time the cashiers seem a little uncomfortable with letting someone pay by cc. I’m not sure how long I’ll be opening cards for bonuses and using MS to hit the minimum spend, but as long as Citi is offering 100,000K miles for a single card, it will be hard to stop.
I feel like you have to build a relationship with a cashier and they will help you out. I know the 2 cashiers at my CVS and we talk about whatever. Bluebird is the cheapest option and it should be less hassle.
Garyst16—-Why would you want to check the balance-assuming first time use? I hope you mean One Vanilla DEBIT-not GIFT-cards. I just “unload” them at WM when buying money orders.
Just loaded $500 on two Vanilla gift/debit Visas. Tried to check balance and received a “System Error. Please try later” message. Anyone else have this issue?
The website says that often. Call the number on the back of the card for card info.
I had the same issue a few days ago. Purchased 8 Vanilla Visa Gift Card at CVS for the first time for $500 on each card. All work except ONE. Called their 1-800 numbers. Spend probably half an hour with the representative. They collected so many your personal information. Also, I had to faxed a copy of my driver license. They told me it will take 3 to 5 days to do research. This is very hassle. Hopefully, I will get my money back. Red about it online that so many have problem with Vanilla Visa Gift card. Some did not get their money back. I will not purchased Vanilla Visa Gift card anymore. Doing this for first time and already have problem with it. Once I get my money ($500) back from Vanilla Visa, I will try One Vanilla Visa Gift card. My question is, does anyone have problem with One Vanilla Visa in the past? I just don’t want to go through with the same issue I had with Vanilla Visa Gift card.
One Vanilla is much easier. I’ve never had problems using them.
Steven and Grant- I typed in gift and debit a few places surrounded by <> but the words didn’t appear in the comment. No such thing as a One Vanilla GIFT card; it is a DEBIT card.
Steven-I don’t know what a Vanilla VISA <> card is. I only know what a One Vanilla <> card is. No such thing as a One Vanilla <> card. Do not register them. Do not open an “account”. Do not talk with anyone at Vanilla company. You made the problem. Just use any made up PIN at the Walmart money center when you swipe them. I use the cards’ last 4 digits. I have never had a problem with them. You can only buy three $1,000 money orders ( 6 X $500 cards) in one single transaction. Why did you buy 8 cards? Too many for a $2,000 min spend. Too many for a $3,000 min spend and not enough for a $5,000 min spend.
Question for all of you experienced folk: Have any of you been able to use the US Bank $200 MasterCard “Debit” cards that Staples sells at the MoneyCenter Kiosk at WM? My local Staples was all out of the VISA type cards, so I purchased a few of the MasterCard types. I was able to set a PIN over the phone…..although, the computer on the phone said that I was changing the PIN…..not creating one, so perhaps the card comes with a PIN (last 4 digits of the card? or any PIN I wish, like the VAnillaVisas?) These US Bank MasterCards have a picture of a Gift Card on the front with a wrapped package and bow. Thank you for any advice.
Orrin
I used to use the MasterCard Gift Cards at Staples, but I found the Visa Gift Cards work better. Sometimes it takes a bit longer to set a PIN for the MasterCard Gift Cards, but if you wait a day or so, the PIN should work fine at Walmart.
Thank you!
od
Dan-Too bad you didn’t get a literate clerk in the first CVS. OV is NOT in the cash only list.
In response to Matt Hess
I just used Chase SWV to purchase 2k worth of cards this weekend. Although I went to 3 different CVS stores. The first store told me that I could not purchase OVC with a CC. He even went so far as to show me the screen on his register. But the other two did not have a problem.
One Vanilla DEBIT cards. Do NOT register them. Do NOT open an “account. Just use any PIN, such as last 4 digits, at Walmart when you swipe them at he money center to buy money orders for deposit.
Grant-Cancel your IHG cards and mark your calendar to apply in a few months. Same for Chase British Airways cards and Barclay US Airways cards.
I don’t have either of the last 2 cards. Are you sure I will be able to get the sign up bonus for the IHG card?
Grant- Not sure. Wait a few months and try it. I have had success with that method with some cards, including getting more Avios from the BA cards. As I wrote, it worked with the IHG cards.
I’m in NYC so no Walmart option. I read that with the MyVanilla you can unload $400 per day from ATM. Is that true? If so would the following work:
Buy OneVanilla with credit cards
Unload $400 per day and put cash back into bank account.
Any thoughts?
Where are you buying MyVanilla cards from?
Unless you get an ignorant clerk, you can buy postal money orders with debit cards.
I have been buying OV debit cards at CVS, going to Walmart to load $1000/day BB card. UNTIL TODAY, now my local WM will not accept Debit/Gift cards with no name on card. The ATM was not working initially, but they fixed it??? The machine would not accept my 4 digit pin (1234). I had to cancel my transaction. Walmart not helpful!
Help! I need to load 6 OV cards
I don’t waste time with BlueBird. Clerk was wrong about no name. One Vanilla debit cards do not come with your name. Next time, ask for a manager. I buy money orders to deposit in my bank and pay MO fees in cash. Never a problem. I have swiped 6 One Vanilla $500 debit cards to buy 3 $1,000 MOs in one transaction. Pay bills online from free bank bill pay service.
I did talk to the manager!!!!
So, I can buy money orders at my bank with One Vanilla cards and deposit into my account?
Fergie-I never wrote about buying money orders at a bank.You buy MOs at a Walmart, a post office, or stores which sell them and will accept debit cards. I never heard about banks selling MOs but I never asked about that.
Sigh. It is hard to overcome a package of ignorance, stupidity, and laziness. Try another day at the Walmart to get another clerk. Or try another Walmart or postal money orders. I read about people having problems with Bluebird, Serve, kiosks. I never have a problem with money orders for deposit.
Just loaded $1000 to BB with OV. No problems at my Walmart in CO.
I have read every line of every post. I would like to understand how I move money from One Vanilla to my Bluebird account. I can go to CVS and by the One Vanilla debit card, but I am lost after that. Pardon me for being a step behind.
Just bring your One Vanilla gift card and Bluebird Card to Walmart. Go to the money center department and tell them you want to load your Bluebird Card. Swipe your One Vanilla gift card and enter any 4 digit PIN. All done.
Yes it worked and I entered 1 2 3 4. If they ask just tell them yes it is debit card.
For CO. Go into Vanilla and search for CO locations that stock OV.
I have done that, but the places listed either does not have them or does not take cc payment.
Also, the visa gc’s I bought yesterday do not work. The company says that the activation system is down nation wide and I have to fax them copies of everything for manual activation. Just fyi to those that buy the visa gc. It’s the one with the purple gift on the front.
Thanks for the update Danielle, I hope it is a quick fix for them and that their activation system is back online soon. Have a great weekend and Happy Mother’s Day!
Danielle—1. “Also, the visa gc’s I bought yesterday do not work.” Please give *details* of what you have and why/how they “don’t work”. 2. Grocery stores carry $500 loadable (not reloadable) gift cards by Metabank and US Bank. Instructions in the folders tell how to get PINs to convert them into debit cards. Do NOT register them. No need. Swipe them to buy money orders in Walmart. I used them before I found out about One Vanilla DEBIT cards. Pay MO fees in cash.
I know how they are supposed to work. I have done it several times. These are the us bank loadable with $500 each. I bought them Friday, went to load them, and got an error. I then waited the 24hr activation period and called for a balance, but there is no balance on either card. Finally sat on hold forever, and the rep said that there was a glitch in their system, it’s nation wide, and as of last night was still not fixed. Says they have to be activated manually and that I have to fax copies of the card, receipt, and activation to their activation dept to have them activated manually. I was mad and she could not give me a time frame as to when they will be usable and was pretty grouchy about it. They also want my name, phone, and email address. Can’t be emailed, can’t call them. Fax only.
I don’t understand ” I bought them Friday, went to load them,” They are loaded *when* you buy them. I guess the cashier somehow failed to load and/or activate them. Do you have a receipt showing what you charged? Talk with a manager where you bought them to fix it. Besides US Bank, Metabank also has the gift cards in some grocery stores which can be converted into debit cards with a PIN.
Had an interesting experience over the weekend involving my local Police Dept and my local Valero store.
I had found a local Valero store that would sell me OV cards using credit cards, so I had purchased a couple of cards there and went back a few days later to get another card, I only needed one more to reach my $5000 max on BB.
On my return trip I was headed home from work, I work for a law enforcement agency here in CO and had on a soft uniform (BDUs, Polo Shirt, Gun, and badge). When I went to purchase the OV cards the clerk (Asst Mgr) asked if I wanted the OV cards or if I would prefer the VRC they had stashed behind the counter (she showed me where they kept the cards hidden). I explained that I wanted to use my CC and she stated that it was no problem if I purchased the VRC with a CC. I happily accepted and went on my way with my one VR cards (Ka-Ching)!
Over the last couple of weeks I returned on a couple of occasions and purchased 4 more VRCs. Each time it was the same clerk (not the asst mgr) and she was very pleasant with me. One of the times I was in plain clothes and the other I had the same soft uniform on.
I stopped on my way home from work this last Thursday to purchase a couple more VRCs and dealt with a different clerk. I did not see the stack of cards where they normally were. I requested to purchase two of the VRCs and she told me to hold on and walked into the managers office and came back out stating they were out of them. She was very short with me and rude. I left figuring I would return on another day and hoped they would have more and I would be able to get the clerk I normally dealt with.
My girlfriend (she is also in law enforcement) and I stopped at the Valero yesterday to fill up, so I thought I would run inside and see if the other clerk was there or if they had gotten more VRCs in. The clerk I had been dealing with was not there, and the two clerks working told me again they were still out. One of them was very rude again to me. I just figured they were bitter people and returned to our car. As we were driving away I could see the clerk who was rude to me staring out the windowing and writing information down on a piece of paper. Clearly taking out license plates down.
We pulled around the side of the store and I went back inside and asked the clerk if there was a problem. I clearly surprised her, because her head was down and I could see she had written down our license plate and a description of our car. She snatched up the paper and said, no there is not a problem. I asked if it was a problem that I wanted to buy more VRCs from them and I asked why she was taking down our license plate info. She responded by saying that you’ve bought several of the cards and I am just doing what my manager told me to do. I left figuring I would call on a weekday and speak with manager and find out what the problem was.
We returned home and went about our normal business. Approximately 15 minutes later there was a knock at the door and my GF and I were greeted by three police officers from our local city. They were very polite and explained that the employees at the Valero had called and were concerned that I was doing something illegal because I had purchased a couple of thousand dollars in VRCs over the last month.
They first wanted to confirm that I was a Police Officer for another city, which I confirmed. They asked me why I was purchasing the VRCs and I explained it was to load my BB account and to earn miles while paying my bills. They all immediately started laughing and explained how the employees at Valero were convinced that I was some drug dealer impersonating a Police Officer and I was laundering money by purchasing the VRCs!!!
They had apparently compiled quite the assortment of pictures of me and my personal vehicle and had been told to call the Police if I returned to purchase more VRCs by the manager. Needless to say we all had a good laugh and by the end of the conversation they were asking me how to compile more rewards on their own credit cards.
Now that I have had a day to think about it all it still completely bewilders me why people are suspicious of us buying VRCs to use them for exactly what they are intended for. I use the same CC to purchase them each time and show my Driver’s License to them each time. Clearly I was not trying to hide anything. If I were truly trying to launder money I would be using cash. Which I think is even more funny since places have gone to requiring only cash to purchase the VRCs.
So, be careful out there…never know when you’ll be accused of being a drug czar!!! LOL
Wow, thank you for sharing your story. Isn’t it against the law to impersonate a police officer? Crazy Valero clerks! I go to my usual CVS and they are surprised whenever I *don’t* buy more than 2 OVGCs. They know me by name, we talk about life and they never ask for ID anymore. If I go to any other CVS, I get the feeling that they don’t trust me. Some cashiers give off a more aggressive nature, but I always go to them holding my credit card and ID, never hiding anything. This is the price we pay to earn miles and points…
Your story cracks my up! I would love to know what Valero let you buy with your cc since I live in CO too, and have had no luck in that regard. I just try to compile what points I can to take my kids to Disney. :) I was able to buy OV with my cc today at Walgreens, but she seemed unsure if she was supposed to, so we will see if that continues to work out. I had a horrible experience this week with visa gc I bought at kings. They didn’t activate, and the money isn’t showing up. I had to fax copies of the card and receipts to their activation dept, and no telling when the funds will be available. I am definitely hopeful I can find OV options from here on out so I don’t have to deal with visa gc anymore!
I stop randomly at all the Walgreens, 7-Elevens, Valeros, Murphy Expresses, etc and try them all. I have found several that will sell OV to me with CC, but the majority will not. Just keep trying.
I don’t like paying more than the $4.95 load fee, so I stay away from the supermarket gift cards.
I agree. I’m still looking for the prefect system. :)
I agree. I’m still looking for the perfect system. :)
Again and again and again, OVs are NOT gift cards, They are, as it says on the front, debit cards.
To clarify, I bought 2 Visa GC on Friday at my local grocery store. They activated my card like normal, and I got a purchase receipt and an activation receipt. I then went to Walmart to load the money to my BB card, but I got an error. I called the number on the back of the card, but I got an error when I entered the card info. I waited 24hrs in case it was talking longer for the activation to go through. After 24hrs, there was still an error, so I called and talked to the representative who said that there is an error with their system and the cards have to be manually activated. She said it was a nationwide issue. She said I had to fax the card info and my receipts to get them manually activated. I called back today and talked to a different rep who told me the same thing. According to the store I bought them from, the cards are activated, but according to the visa company -us bank -they are not.
That is very frustrating. My only suggestion would be to wait until Monday morning, and see if the cards are activated online. If they are still not activated, I would follow up with the gift card company and see if they can activate the cards over the phone or via fax. Good luck Danielle.
Danielle-Did you follow the instructions in the packet to get a PIN to convert the gift cards into debit cards? Walmart does not accept gift cards.
Jerry, that wasn’t the problem. I had a pin for each that came with it. It wasn’t a problem with Walmart or the store I bought it from. It’s a problem with usbank. Their system had a glitch. If I call the number on the back of the card and enter my card info, it says there is an error with my card. It doesn’t show a balance.
Danielle, I had the same problem almost two weeks now. I am also frustrating with this. I called them many times and still not resolved. They said it will take 3 to 5 days to do their research and it is now almost two weeks. I am going to call them today for status. Once this is resolved (I hope I get my money back – $500 worth in the card), I will never buy Vanilla Visa Gift card again. Never!!!
Dang Steven, that’s way too long. They should have activated your cards by now. I’m sorry you are going through this.